Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Well hello! :-)

Hello everyone! How are things back home? I hope you are all getting some warmer weather coming your way finally! Just an update on the goings on here in Cuenca. We are both doing well, although Chad got the flu last week and very lovingly decided to share it with me :-) We are now recovering!The congregation is good! We have had a few families move out to other congregations and some other congregations move in... all in all a balance! We are excited to begin our D.C. invitation campaign. Our convention is the last weekend of this month, here in Cuenca so we don't have to travel too far :-) The English convention is the first weekend in August so YIPPEEEEE! :-)We have been good and very busy (aren't we all?) hahaThe ministry has been great, as usual. Recently Chad has been able to start studying with some of the husbands of a few of our sisters in the congregation! That is always a nice experience! It is so great to see how the husbands really progress due to the great example of their wives all of these years! And as an added bonus, Chad usually receives food because of course the sisters take real good care of him when he is on the study! :-)I have a good group of bible studies right now. This one little girl, her name is Michelle (haha) she is 12. Oh my, what a bible student! She had studied before and got about 3/4 of the way through the Bible Teach book, but then her family moved and she lost touch and just hadn't really had a chance to study for a few months. Well, they moved into our territory and came to one of or meetings and I sure grabbed a hold of that one fast! :-) The best place to find good studies? At our public talk and WT!!!! haha I make such a bee-line for the new faces they don't even know what hit them! :-) Seriously, you have no idea how many people just show up at a meeting. Maybe they studied in the past, maybe they are just curious, have received literature somewhere in the past and wanted to see what it's all about! (Well, I digress) haha

ANYWAY... about Michelle! I have had 2 studies with her so far. So, I asked her how much of the Bible Teach book she has studied and she said up to Chapter 14. But, she says, "But, please, could we do a review from the beginning to make sure that I didn't forget anything?" haha OF COURSE WE CAN!!! She has not forgotten anything! Some things she maybe never learned,,, but when we get to that, well, that is her homework assignment! You should see the excitement in her eyes as she writes down her homework assignment! She LOVES it! For example, the first week, I asked her about the Memorial and if she had attended. She said yes, one time. I asked her who partake of the emblems and why and she was so concerned as she told me she didn't remember! So... the appendix was her homework! Who partake? Why? How many are there? When do we celebrate the Memorial? questions like that. Also we covered the cross, she knew not to use it, but not sure why. So I told her the next week I would be one of her classmates, and I wanted her to explain to me why we don't use the cross! :-)(Bye the way, she gives me homework assignments, too.. like "Hermanita, next week I would like to you review this prophecy with me about Babylon (the one with Cyrus). Could you do that?" OF COURSE!!! haha)Soooo, week 2 I get there for the study. And she bought herself a special notebook just for her homework assignments :-). She had written notes about the Memorial and also about the cross. She gave a little presentation on both topics... I was pretty much amazed at her maturity and knowledge... What can you expect from a "Michelle?" hahahahahahaha So again we continued through the book reviewing. Her homework assignment this week is 1914 and how we use the bible to get to that date. I almost felt bad giving it to her because it can be so challenging for some of the students to grasp... but I am sure she will explain it better than I can! :-) She really has been a joy to study with.Let's see, what else? AHHHH if any of you remember the Criollo family? The ones that live up in the mountains? The 4 kids that study and were progressing and I was studying with the mom, Elena? Well, let me tell you! Two of the kids are now regular pioneers, the other daughter is a regular auxiliary pioneer and the youngest is still in high school, but progressing very well! Oh and Elena!!! What a sweetie! After we left their congregation, I turned her over to a very capable sister who took very good care of her. But that sister also moved away and from there it was just a disaster. Either the sisters weren't regular with her study, or their schedules didn't match, I am not quite sure, but she basically didn't study for about a year, although she faithfully attended all the meetings. So about 6 months ago she is sadly telling me all this at the Circuit Assembly and I, as you can imagine, am ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED that my sweet little Elena has been neglected!!! So, I told her to think about the sisters in her congregation and choose one that she feels comfortable with! She thought about it for 10 minutes and then came up to me with a name. I didn't know the sister, so first, I had to ask around to make sure she was good enough for my Elena hahahahaa ANYWAY, this sister had a bible student with her at the assembly, so I was fairly confident that she would take good care of Elena. You should have seen the conversation. Elena, of course, is extremely shy. So she goes with me but is hiding behind me. hahaha I think it went something like this... "Um, hi, you don't know me... My name is Michele. I used to study with Elena. I think you know her? (As I am trying to pull her out from behind me) She needs someone to study the Bible with her. Would you be willing to take good care of her?" hahahaha And, as anyone would do, she readily accepted, they exchanged information and set up a day for the following week. Well.... a few months later, not more that 3-4 I run into Elena on the street. She is SOOOOOOO excited! "Michelita (little michele haha) I just last week I enrolled in the TMS and I am now approved as an unbaptized publisher!!" Oh man, what an incredible sense of joy :-) She has since been a householder twice and is also preaching as much as her schedule allows her! Just thought you would all enjoy that update on that precious little family!Well, I started out this blog thinking "Whatever am I going to talk about?" hahaha It appears that I had more than I thought! Well, I have to go to work now! Nice chatting with you all! Oh and we are coming back for a visit mid-September through October! Hope to see you all! :-)

20 comments:

So great to have a new post and to know you are Alive and Well! What joys you're having in the ministry! Keep up the good work and thanks for taking the time to Share! Look forward to seeing you this Fall!

glad to hear from you, look forward to seeing you in Sept. Glad to hear the ministry is continuing to be vibrant. Don't feel shy about writing (when you have time) you have a good way with words, makes for excellent reading.

Hi, my name is Mike and my wife Melissa and my daughter Samantha are from Westbank, BC in Canada. We are looking to go to Ecuador to pioneer for a month and get our feet wet in the ministry down there. Perhaps some day longer. I found your blog while researching Ecuador. If you have the time, could you contact me via my email to maybe give us some info on the area you're in and maybe give us some pointers in the right direction? Anything would be appreciated.Thanks you so much...Mikemike@thebownfamily.com

Awwwww you guys!!! I really thought that this post would go completely unnoticed! That everyone FOR SURE had stopped bothering to check my semi-annual blog! haha Thanks for caring and for writing messages! We can't wait to see you all soon! :-)

Hi, My name is Dana, my husband and I are from Tacoma, Wa and are wanting to move to Ecuador to serve where the need is greater. I am loving your blog! We have been doing tons of research and learning alot! We do have more questions though:)(mostly about Open English)I know your super busy, so when you get a chance will you send me your email address?Thank you!Dana Stonedanahead2000@yahoo.com

Hello Chad and Michelle. We are hoping to attend the international convention in Jan 2015. Yes a long way off, but we are hoping to stay for three months. We are a family of four from California. Looking to make some connections before hand to we are a little more prepared. We are all working on our Spanish!! Thanks for the pictures, it sealed the deal for my wife who wanted to go to Greece, but Ecuador it is.I serve as an elder and my oldest son(22) is a MS and pioneer. We would love to help in any way while we are there.

Dear brothers, Our family has also enjoyed your blog, we read and share blogs/experiences like yours once in awhile during family worship, it has been very helpful and encouraging. Please keep up the self sacrificing work you are doing and we look forward to more. We are hoping we qualify for the international convention in Ecuador in 2015 to try it out as well. Something that has not been mentioned that I would like to know is the air quality, here on the big island of Hawaii we have plenty of vog ( volcano smoke ) because of the active volcano, is it an issue in Ecuador? Our email is sbk-ds@juno.com in case you might want to answer and contact us. May Jah keep blessing your efforts. Your brothers , the gonzalez family.

My family absolutely loves your blog. We are a family of 4 (son, 17 & daughter, 14) that have been considering what we could do to serve to a greater degree. My wife and I have both Pioneered, our children are planning to enroll this next June. I would love to hear more from you regarding what motivated you to relocate and what challenges you faced with the initial decision. Keep it up!

Greetings from Florida! My name is Sarah and I love your blog! My husband and I want to serve where the need is greater and have narrowed it down to Ecuador and would truly appreciate any words of wisdom on how to make the move. We hope to visit next spring so maybe we'll bump into you! ;)

Hey guys. Enjoyed the last post. My wife elena and I are also serving here in Ecuador in a Sign Language Congregation in Loja. We probably saw you at the English District Convention. check out our Blog @ www.jeremynelena.com

Thanks for the post. My wife and I are trying to make a move down to Ecuador next year, with our little son. It would be great to keep in touch with you! My email is lpfireman at gmail dot com. My name is Luke

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About Me

This is our third adventure here in Ecuador. As we have pioneered here, we have come to love Ecuador, the adorable brothers and sisters, and the interesting sights and sounds here. We hope to be able to share a small piece of that with you all through this blog.